I saw this band without having heard of their stuff when they supported Bon Jovi in about 1990 at Wembley Arena. It was a good concert overall and BJ were pretty much on form. The support band was Dan Reed Network. I thought they were pretty good and so I bought “Slam” and “Heat” when that eventually came out. When I went digital as the previous albums were on music cassette I just bought a “best of”.
Now, every song on here is worth listening to. The sound is a weird rock-funk crossover thing. It sometimes sounds very 80s, but I kinda like that. My highlights are:
- Baby Now I
- Rainbow Child
- Stronger Than Steel
- Tiger in a Dress
Now, I can remember being with my dad in the car driving along Gilden Way in Harlow. I had put “Slam” in the tape player and we had heard the first side and the player reversed direction for the start of side two (check that out you digital freaks, two sides of TAPE for an album). The start of the second side starts with police sirens. There was a moment of panic as both dad and I thought there were police chasing us or coming up and we’d need to move over. Once the music cut-in it was a bit more clear what was happening. Fools!
I’m not sure I can let you know just how highly I think of the song “Rainbow Child”. It is just rather beautiful. I originally bought this on a YELLOW vinyl 12 inch single. I love the old days. There aren’t many songs that can reduce me into an emotional wreck but this one comes extremely close. I just can’t rate it highly enough. “Rainbow Child” along with “White Wine In The Sun” crumble me!